“I don’t know how musically creative they should be at that age”: A qualitative study of parents’ and teachers’ beliefs about young children’s creative and musical capacities

Abstract

There has been a recent expansion of school curricula and extra-curricular activities emphasizing musical creativity and collaboration. Parents have a crucial role in providing children with access to such experiences; their views on music and the nature of creativity influence the types of musical engagement their children will access. Teachers also have an important role, yet can have difficulties when supporting children in open-ended tasks. A qualitative study investigated parents’ and teachers’ constructions of creativity and music. Interviews were held with 11 parents and 4 teachers of preschool children who took part in improvisation workshops. Data were analyzed with thematic analysis, resulting in identification of three themes. Creativity and musicality were described as fundamental to children’s “human nature” but positioned as a non-fundamental part of their own adult identities. “Values” explored conceptualizations of creativity through artistic products; musicality was appreciated demonstration of technical skill. “Frames for engaging” identified adults engaging with their children in creative tasks mainly through child-led narratives; in contrast, parents took on the role of “teacher” in musical tasks. Understanding these influential views offers insight into the types of activities and guidance offered to pre-schoolers and how they can be built on to foster children’s musical creativity.

Measuring parental involvement as parental actions in children’s private music lessons in China

“…Previous research asserted that parental support and involvement produced positive effects ( Huber, 2019 ; Yuan et al, 2021 ). More intuitively, providing a musical environment, supervising activities at home and investing in children’s musical learning and activities influence children’s personality, identity, communication ability, musical competence, and accomplishments ( Creech and Hallam, 2003 , 2011 ; McPherson, 2008 ; MacGlone et al, 2022 ). Due to these benefits, an increasing number of parents in both the United States (U.S.) and China are willing to send their children to music lessons, and diverse types of music learning patterns have appeared, one of which is taking private lessons.…”

Exploring Spanish studio music teachers’ views on topics related to creativity

“…However, several studies works found that music teachers’ views on creativity resist generalization and are highly dependent on their own experiences in composing music, knowledge of different musical styles, working contexts, or past experiences (Odena & Welch, 2007, 2016). The majority of participants in these studies are located in the Anglosphere world (e.g., MacGlone et al, 2022; Vitale, 2017), with a few exceptions (Schiavio et al, 2023; Sungurtekin, 2021). Likewise, they are typically primary or secondary music teachers, although there are exceptions, such as the study presented in the fourth chapter of Odena (2018), which focuses on developing creativity among conservatoire students.…”